????親愛的安妮：我可以在這里發泄一下滿腔郁悶嗎？前幾天，又有一位曾經一起共事的同事獲得晉升，成了我的頂頭上司，現在負責整個部門的運營工作。這種事其實以前也發生過，無論是在這家公司，還是在我過去的工作單位，按理說我現在應該習慣才對。盡管我不想給人留下愛發牢騷的印象，但我不得不說，這次似乎特別不公平。我已經在這家公司工作了七個年頭，從來沒有錯過哪怕一個項目的截止日期，哪怕按時完工意味著晚上加班，周末不休息。有一次，我因為一個小手術住院，也沒有停止手頭的工作。

????相比之下，我們的新老板去年才加入這家公司，盡管不那么可靠（這樣說已經算客氣了），他還是被視為一位明星。制定晉升決策時，高管們真的那么看重外表而輕視實質嗎？還是說，只有像我這樣的笨蛋才相信辛勤工作應該獲得回報？——一位來自舊金山的憤憤不平者

????親愛的憤憤不平者：在普羅大眾的想象中，辛勤工作是成功之母這個觀點已經根深蒂固，任何人不會因為相信它而被視為傻瓜。但不幸的是，組織（像人一樣）很少遵循這種理想模式，這就是他們經常要求一種行為、但實際上卻獎勵另一種行為的原因所在。這種做法當然令人困惑。

????布倫丹?里德目前在一家他不愿透露名稱的科技公司擔任高管。這種現象在他長達20年的職業生涯中屢見不鮮，促使他撰寫了一部以此為主題的著作：《如何竊取主管寶座：商學院永遠不會教你的職場獲勝之道》(Stealing the Corner Office: The Winning Career Strategies They'll Never Teach You in Business School )。這本書一開篇就破除了里德所稱的“用人唯才神話”。

????這本書其實沒有它聽起來那么偏激。在職業生涯早期，里德說，自己在“這樣那樣的中層管理崗位上”熬了很長時間。隨后，他開始分析那些不太敬業、能力不足的同事為什么能夠從眾多中層管理者中脫穎而出，平步青云。他們究竟做了什么事情？正如你已經注意到的那樣，他在書里也寫道，智力超群的人不見得能夠受到重用。大多數公司充滿了“頭腦聰明，但職位紋絲不動”的員工。

????原因在于，最勤奮的員工很少主動接受那些足以讓他或她受到關注的巨大挑戰?！胺€健可靠的形象是通過一系列小成就確定下來的。小成就贏得小印象分，”他說?！八?，追逐大項目可以獲得大成就?！边@樣一來，你的聲譽甚至能夠掩蓋“難免出現的錯誤。上級領導往往能夠記住做過大事的人。干活靠得住固然很好，但僅憑這一點無法給人留下深刻印象?！?/p>

????說的不錯，但《如何竊取主管寶座》列舉的職業生涯戰略還不僅于此。里德認為，目前在美國企業中最流行的大多數口號都帶有誤導性，甚至毫無價值。比如那種認為取得進步需要激情的觀點?！凹で槭亲畋粸E用的商業術語，”他說?！拔以洺錆M激情地傳播我的想法，直到有一天我意識到，我一直被大家視為大傻瓜?！?/p>

????里德說，只有等到“大家都知道我無論在什么情況下都能冷靜地提出好幾種方案（而不是充滿激情地堅稱我的方式是正確的），，”他才開始拾階而上，步步高升。人們之所以獲得提拔，在很大程度上是因為其他人，特別是（但不僅僅是）老板喜歡跟他們一起工作，而激情往往會引起同事的反感?！安还茉鯓?，你最好的想法或許都會被采納，根本沒必要敲桌子，”他指出?！巴鼌s激情，給人以冷靜和公正的印象，往往更有助于你獲得晉升機會?！?/p>

????Dear Annie:Can I just vent some frustration here? A few days ago, yet again, someone I used to work with got promoted over my head and is now running the whole department. This has happened before, both here and where I worked before, so I should be used to it by now. But, without sounding too whiny, I have to say it seems especially unfair this time. I've been here seven years, have never missed a project deadline even when meeting it meant working nights, weekends, and once even when I was in the hospital for minor surgery.

????Our new boss, by contrast, just got here last year and is considered a star despite being, to put it politely, not nearly so dependable. Do senior managers making decisions about promotions really value flash over substance? Or am I just a chump for believing that hard work should be rewarded? —Steamed in San Francisco

????Dear Steamed:The notion that hard work leads to success is so ingrained in the popular imagination that believing it doesn't make anyone a chump. Unfortunately, though, organizations (like people) rarely conform to the ideal, which is why they often demand one kind of behavior but reward some other kind, which can certainly be confusing.

????Brendan Reid, now a senior executive at a technology company he'd rather not name, noticed this so often over his 20-year corporate career that he wrote a book about it. Stealing the Corner Office: The Winning Career Strategies They'll Never Teach You in Business School starts with dispelling with what Reid calls "the myth of meritocracy."

????That's less cynical than it sounds. Reid spent lots of time earlier in his career "being manager of this and manager of that," he says. Then he started analyzing what less dedicated, less competent peers were doing to break out of the middle-management pack. As you've noticed, intelligence is no guarantee of moving up, he writes. Most companies are full of "smart but stationary" people.

????The reason, he says, is that the most diligent, hardworking employees rarely take on big enough challenges to get noticed. "Being steady and dependable is defined by a series of small wins. And small wins score small points," he says. "So go after big projects, where you can score big wins." That way, he adds, your reputation can even handle mistakes "when they inevitably happen. Higher-ups remember people who did big things. Reliability is fine, but it just doesn't stick in anyone's mind."

????Okay, but the career strategy laid out in Stealing the Corner Office doesn't stop there. Reid believes most of the buzzwords currently in vogue in corporate America are misleading or downright worthless. Take, for instance, the notion that getting ahead takes passion. "Passion is the most overused word in business," he says. "I used to be extremely passionate about my ideas, until the day I realized I was coming across as a jerk."

????Reid says he started moving up through the executive ranks only after "I became known for calmly presenting several options, in any situation, instead of passionately insisting my way was right." People get promoted, he says, in large part because other people — especially, but not only, bosses — like working with them, and passion too often puts colleagues off. "Your best ideas will probably be adopted anyway, without your having to pound the table," he notes. "It's much more useful to forget about passion, and come across as unemotional and impartial."